Iraqi’s say widespread looting of archaeological sites is continuing, despite please for help to the Americans. “On a visit Sunday, three sites near here were pocked with freshly dug holes and littered with hastily abandoned shovels, indicating looting in the last day or two. At one spot, about two dozen people ran off when they saw approaching trucks. At Isan Bakhriat, site of the ancient city of Isin to the north of here, more than 100 looters were openly digging out and selling urns, sculptures and cuneiform tablets. ‘It’s happening at almost every site. They are smart. They take the antiquities that they know have value, and they know how to get them out of the country’.”